Charred Calling
by plasticbutterknife
Summary: There was a time when Jai knew exactly what she wanted. She found meaning in a vigilante gang of unsatisfied teens as herself. The fire changed everything. Now Jai is alone, forced to pick up the pieces of her life and try to make sense of it all.
1. Chapter 1

Clop.

Step.

Clop.

Step.

Clop.

Step.

"_How can you stand her? How can you have her under your roof? After what happened to Patrick, how can you even look at her face?"_

"_Charles, she's just a child," Maple had said. Sweet, kind Maple._

"_A monster. That's what she is."_

Step.

Clop.

Step.

The words still burned in Jai's ears, though it had been days since they had been spoken. She stopped walking for a moment, allowing her crutches to slip to the ground.

"_You have no way of linking her to Patrick," Maple said, halfheartedly.  
_

"_She was there in the fire. How blind do you have to be to not see that?"_

"_It's your anger that blinds you Charles, your anger."_

Jai wiped her forehead and the hood she was wearing fell down and Jai was quick to replace it. A cloak was horribly stereotypical for a shady character, but it was what did the job. Its shadow was cast in just the right direction so that her face was obstructed. Anyone who saw her would assume that it was just the way the light and shadows played with her face; they wouldn't realize that those were scars.

The fire had been large, though Jai could only remember it in its beginning stages. She had been knocked out soon after and was lucky to be alive. The burn markings on her face and the whole left side of her body told that story. She was lucky to be alive.

Luck. She smiled in spite of herself.

"_Well, how would you feel if it had been me? What would you have thought then? You wouldn't let the little murderer under your own roof, that's one thing I can tell you for sure."_

_Maple was silent. _

Jai fingered the pokeballs she carried with her. They were empty. They were stolen. Just another thing to add to the list that she was ashamed of in her life. This scored relatively low on the list since she had seen it as a necessity. Still, it pained her that she had taken them from one of the few people who had been truly and genuinely kind to her. This was a necessary action, she told herself over and over again. Then, that Maple would have given them to her if she had just asked. Neither thought was very comforting.

Seven days. It had been seven days since she had left Orange Grove Town where Maple lived. Seven days, and she still hadn't found a pokemon she thought suitable to join her party. Jai was a picky trainer. She had always been a fan of pokemon of the poison variety. This was something that she had picked up from her grandparents. Grammy and Poppy were gym leaders who specialized in the poison type. Though they were not league sanctioned and therefore could not offer badges, trainers still went out of their way to go to the little town of Oakland to challenge them. Grammy and Poppy were known for their skill, strategies, and above all their bond with their pokemon, many of which they had had for years.

Jai sat among the tall grasses, throwing her pokeballs up and down. She had been quite good at juggling when she was younger. It was something that she had learned to go along with the magic tricks that had so fascinated her at that age. Now, one of her balls fell to the ground and she sighed before picking it up again.

"You're a trainer, aren't you!" called a shrill voice.

Jai looked up. The boy couldn't be more than ten years old. In fact, he hardly looked that. Trainers seemed to be getting younger and younger each day.

"You're a trainer!" the boy shouted again, "So, you have to fight me!"

Jai couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm not going to fight you," she said.

"Oh yeah?"

"Look kid," Jai said, getting up. She forgot her crutches on the ground. "I'm not going to fight you." She gripped one of her pokeballs in her hand, holding it up, as if threatening to release whatever it was inside. Or rather, whatever _wasn't_ inside.

"Why not?" the kid asked, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Jai put the pokeballs in her pockets.

"This is why." She pulled up the sleeve of her cloak. The boy gasped. The burns had caused her flesh to curl in a strange pattern. If they didn't bring back memories, Jai might have even thought that it looked cool.

"What happened to you?" the boy asked.

"I wrestled with a Charizard," Jai said. The boys eyes were planted firmly on her now, "I wrestled with a Charizard. And I won. So, if you want to release some Rattata or Pidgey for me to finish off, I'll do it with pleasure. But, you have been warned."

"Sheesh," the little boy said, no longer so eager to battle, "I think I need to do something else right now."

With that, he left her to her peace. Jai sighed. That had been a close one. Of course, she could have just told the boy that she had no pokemon with her. But Jai was not the type to back down from a challenge. Even one from a kid. This just reaffirmed what she already knew— she needed to get a pokemon. And fast.

Jai was about to leave the spot. Then she remembered—her crutches. They had been necessary when she had first been recovering. Now she just kept them around as part of her disguise. They made her less intimidating but more importantly, less recognizable to the people of her past. No one would suspect a girl with a limp. She hoped.

Jai picked up her crutches. But, instead of using them on the beaten path, she held them, and returned to the tall grass. She walked through it, hoping to stumble upon a pokemon. Any type of pokemon would do. She scanned the horizon. A large group of rocks? Or an Onix? Fine. Any pokemon besides that one, any pokemon that was small enough for her to defeat with her own hands.

The grass seemed abnormally empty on this particular day. In the past, at least Jai would find Rattata, Pidgey, even the occasional Spearow. The sun was setting now and she still hadn't seen anything.

The grass was rattling, but only thanks to some wind. Jai noticed a tree in the distance. She headed towards it, deciding that she could rest there, then find her way back to the path. She would have to hurry to make it to the next town by night fall. Though she had spent plenty of nights out in the wild, she had never done it without the company of another person or pokemon. To do so now would be stupid; there was no other way of putting it. In fact, wandering around in tall grass like this, unprotected, probably bordered stupid. But, Jai never claimed to be smart. That was her brother's field.

When Jai reached the tree, she noticed that she had been beaten to it. Annoyance quickly turned to pleasure when she realized that it was, in fact, a pokemon in front of her. The Cubone was asleep, little belly pulsing up and down with each breath it took. Jai glanced quickly from side to side, making sure that there wasn't a trainer nearby. She had stolen pokemon before, but it was a mistake she had vowed never to repeat.

There wasn't another person in sight. Though the pokemon was asleep, Jai didn't dare throw a pokeball at it yet. If it didn't stay in the ball the first time, she would have a hard time defeating it with her bare hands. Taking a bone to the head wouldn't be the best thing in the world for her either. Last time she was knocked out, she almost died among flames. This time, she couldn't hope for a good Samaritan to be near by.

Jai crept up on the pokemon and grabbed its bone from its claw. The pokemon stirred, but didn't awake. Jai let out her breath in relief. Then, the pokemon's eyes flashed open.

Jai muttered profanities under her breath. She had to work quickly. She swung her arm around and hit the little pokemon with its own bone. It cried out in pain. The poor thing was defenseless without its weapon. Little tears began to well up in its eyes. Jai was suddenly angry. She saw flames though they weren't there. She hit the pokemon again with the bone, ignoring its pained cries. The Cubone curled up into a defensive, fetal position. Jai smacked it one more time before dropping the bone and throwing a pokeball at it.

"You're mine," she said, even before the pokeball had stopped shaking. Jai had been around pokemon all her life. She could recognize when one of them lost the will to fight, she could see it when they were broken.

Jai picked up the pokeball, a look of triumph on her face. She stared at it for a moment. But her joy was overshadowed by the familiar voice of her grandfather in her head.

"_Strength is not measured by destruction," Poppy had so often said._

"_But by being able to leave something better than it was when you first found it," Grammy would always finish for him._

Jai collapsed by the tree. She could hardly stop her own tears. She would not cry.

~*~

It had been a long night. Jai had spent most of it tossing and turning in the bed. Jai hated hostels. When she was younger, they had provided a nice place to chat with other trainers and even take part in the occasional battle. But, now she had very little to say and even less to battle with. She hadn't let her new pokemon out yet. Instead, she had left it at the pokemon center before going to the hostel. She would have to pick Cubone up before continuing.

The pokemon center was similar to every other one she had ever been in and the bright lights blinded her as she stepped through. She always felt out of place in pokemon centers. They were so bright and happy. And yet she knew that around every corner there were hurting creatures. And although she tried not to think about it, she knew from experience that not all of them would make it.

She felt the stares of other people. Her cloak was useless in hiding her face in such a lighted area. She glanced around, looking back at them. They quickly averted their gazes. No one wanted to be caught looking at a girl with crutches.

"I'm here to pick up a Cubone," Jai said when she reached the desk.

"For Erin Jameson?" the assistant at the desk asked.

"Yes, that's me," Jai said. She signed on the line where it was requested, making big, curly letters. It was a good thing that they didn't ask for her trainer's license. Everything had been destroyed in the fire. Even if she had had it, it would have been expired, not to mention contain a different name than the one she had signed the Cubone under. It occurred to Jai that she could probably pick up any number of pokemon from the center, simply by guessing their species correctly. But she had promised herself that she wouldn't steal pokemon anymore, a promise she intended to keep.

The lady at the desk had gone and retrieved Cubone's pokeball, and was now standing in front of Jai, still holding the ball.

"You know, this pokemon was awfully skittish around the nurses handling her."

"Well, Cubones aren't exactly the most social of creatures," Jai replied, annoyed. She held out her hand to get the pokeball, but the person at the desk didn't give in yet.

"You might consider being more gentle with your pokemon," the lady at the desk said, before handing over Cubone's ball against her better judgement.

Don't tell me how to raise my pokemon, Jai thought, but didn't say anything. She took the ball and left.

The town was smaller than most, but not too small to have its own gym. Jai looked at it, envying every person inside. At one point, she may have wanted to take the gym challenge. She knew that it had always been her brother's dream. Her brother had been an excellent trainer. He had won every tournament for his age group as a child back in Fallen Leaf Town, where they had grown up. Everyone had said that he had so much promise. And then, he had left. Dylan had left her.

Jai stopped at the pokemart where she stocked up on potions and pokefood. She had stopped thinking about the fact that she was paying with stolen money. Soon enough, she would get a job. Or better yet, she would train Cubone so that she could make money as a trainer. She was tempted to promise herself that one day she would pay Maple back. But, she knew in her heart that she could never return to where she had come from. Not after leaving the way that she had. She hadn't even left a note. She had stood there for hours, debating what to write. She wanted to thank Maple for her kindness, for saving her after the fire, for feeding her, making sure that she was well. But there was no way to put that into words. So, instead, Jai had taken three pokeballs and enough money to sustain her until she caught something. She shook her head, knowing that she had fulfilled Charles' words. She was a monster.

She left the town as soon as she had stocked up. She wanted to be away from people before she released her Cubone. It was impossible to know how their first meeting would go. And she didn't want anyone else there to see.

Although she couldn't see anyone in either direction on the path, Jai still waded out into the grass and dropped her crutches before releasing her pokemon. As soon as her feet touched the solid ground, the Cubone rubbed her eyes. Then, it noticed Jai. Cubone quickly got into a battle stance, bone held back, ready to throw at the girl if she made a move. Despite the pokemon's tough stance, Jai could see fear in its eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Jai said, though she knew that her words were meaningless. She didn't even have other pokemon to explain that she wasn't some kind of monster. Like everything else, lost in the fire. Jai always preferred to think that someone had found the pokeballs and now all of the pokemon she had come to love were living happily, somewhere else, with someone else.

"Bone," the pokemon said weakly.

"Or maybe I am," Jai said. She smiled a bit now, "Maybe I'm going to take that bone from you and beat you again. You better not throw it at me, or I just might."

The Cubone allowed its hand to rest at its side, still gripping the bone tightly.

Jai stood there. She had trained many pokemon. But always, always with the help of another pokemon. Another pokemon could explain that Jai wasn't the devil incarnate. Another pokemon could take this Cubone under their wing. But, Jai was in this alone now.

"Now," Jai said, "You have to be alert. You get distracted for one moment, one moment, and the tables can turn on you. I think that I proved that last night."

The pokemon was shaking. But Cubone was listening.

"Now, your other problem was, you were alone. You never want to be alone. That's where I come in. I imagine you've seen other pokemon and their trainers. Now, this is a mutually beneficial relationship. I'll help you become the best. We'll have two pair of eyes, can avoid danger that way."

Jai wondered if the pokemon could understand a word she was saying, as hard as it was shaking. Jai stepped towards the Cubone. Cubone's shaking increased as she got closer, but the pokemon made no attempt at attack. Jai bent down and picked the pokemon up. It wouldn't look at her. Instead, it closed its eyes. Its entire body went from shaking madly to being stiff all over.

Jai shook her head. This pokemon would be useless to her so long as its fear controlled it.

"What am I going to do with you?" she asked. The pokemon started shaking again.

There had been a time when Jai had found it easy to connect with pokemon. When she was a child, she was natural with them. Most children were. There was a connection that only a child could feel with another being. And somehow, Jai had lost her child-like demeanor. She returned Cubone to its ball. This was going to be a long journey. It was bad enough that she had lost all of her human connections. But, even her pokemon didn't like her. Fifteen years, and what did she have to show for it?


	2. Chapter 2

Janny stood outside of the entrance to Team Magma headquarters. Members of Magma stood outside, guarding the entrance. Some of them glared at her, others paid the twelve-year-old no mind at all. She walked up to one of them.

"I'm here to join," she said.

"What?" the grunt asked, "A little kid like yourself? Get lost!" The grunt was at least as old as her brother, probably older. But Dylan could take him, she was sure about that. Her brother Dylan was the best trainer she knew. And Janny was going to find him if it was the last thing she did.

Dyl had left home after their town had been destroyed by Team Aqua. Janny and Dylan hadn't been in the area when it had happened. Rather, they had both been at their grandparents' house, and watched in horror as the events played out on their TV screens. This had made Dylan very angry, and he had run away to go and join Team Magma so that he could put an end to Aqua once and for all. Janny had always thought he would come back eventually. But, when he hadn't even been there for her birthday, she set out to find him.

She had left during the night so that Grammy and Poppy wouldn't try to stop her. After all, they weren't much of a fan of either Magma or Aqua. They hadn't agreed with Dyl's decision to join them, and they certainly wouldn't want their "little Janny" going in that direction as well. But Janny had to find out what had happened to her brother. He was the only member of her nuclear family who was left.

"I'm not going anywhere!" she shouted at the grunt. "Now let me in!"

"Little girl wants in," another grunt said, "Why don't you let her in—let the superiors chase her off for good."

"I'm not gonna be chased off," Janny said with conviction.

"Oh come on," one of the other grunts said, "Just let her in. Ronald's gotta be smaller than her, and he's a fine trainer."

"What's yer name?" another asked.

"I'm January Scott, and I'm here to join you so that we can take down Team Aqua. They destroyed my home and I'm looking for my brother."

"Well, at least she has the right motives."

"Wait, did she say 'Scott'?"

"Yeah, that's what I said—I'm January Scott and I'm gonna join Team Magma!"

"Could it be?" one whispered.

"Looks enough like them," another said.

"Sorry kid, we just don't have room for the likes of you."

"Well, I'm not leaving," Janny said, hands on hips.

"She's as stubborn as they are. Too bad it would never work out."

"Now scram!" said the largest of the grunts.

"I won't!"

The grunt threw a pokeball down and a Quilava was released.

"Now, go before I set Quilly over here on you."

Janny stood there a moment before running. She knew that she was no match for a pokemon. She could hear them, laughing, shouting behind her. Or maybe it was just her mind playing tricks.

She stopped when she could no longer see any member of Team Magma or hear their shouts. Then, she sat on the curb, face in her hands. She wiped the tears from her eyes. She would not let this stop her. She was determined to find her brother, and they could defeat Team Aqua together. She didn't need Magma or anyone else's help.

"I saw you back there," came a voice.

Janny wiped her eyes once more before looking up. It was a boy, a few years older than herself. At first, she feared for the worst—another member of Magma following her to make sure she never came back. But, the boy wasn't wearing typical Magma attire. And he was smiling at her.

"What do you want?" Janny asked, trying to sound tough. But her voice cracked partway through, giving away her fear.

"Hey, hey, no need to get all defensive," he said, "I was just saying that I saw you back there." He paused, rubbing the back of his neck. "And, well, I think that you're pretty brave."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Not everyone has the guts to take on Magma like that."

"But I couldn't battle. I ran away," Janny said.

"Well, you would have been stupid not to," the boy said, laughing a bit, "Magma wouldn't think twice about killing you."

"Oh."

"But, your guts. We could use guts like yours."

"We?"

"The Dark Hand," the boy said resolutely.

"What's that?"

"What's that? What's that?" he said in mock offense, "Ah well, I guess I am not surprised that you've never heard of us. After all, you are young."

Janny glared at him. She didn't like people referencing her age like that. After all, she had been raising pokemon for a couple of years now, and knew quite a few things about the trade even if she didn't have any pokemon with her at the moment.

The boy didn't seem to notice her look of disapproval, and continued, "But, even at your age, I'm sure that you've noticed that neither Aqua nor Magma is doing this world an ounce of good."

He had piqued her attention even though she was tempted to stay mad at him for thinking that she was a little kid.

"Well," the boy continued, "We here in the Dark Hand know that neither Aqua nor Magma can really accomplish anything. They're constantly bickering and will never get anything done that way. They just destroy things. That's not going to change anything around here, only make things worse."

"They destroyed my town," Janny said.

_"Janny, I think it's best to go back to your room and play now," Grammy said._

_ "Kids shouldn't see this kind of thing," her brother Dylan added._

_ "What? I wanna see," Janny said. She wasn't a kid. She jumped onto the couch in between Grammy and Dylan. Neither of them made further attempt to stop her. They were too busy watching the TV._

_ "Wait," Janny said, "That isn't--"_

_ "Shh," Dylan hushed her._

_ Janny's eyes started to tear up. On the screen, she watched as the familiar landmarks of her home and the area around it were lost among the water. An orange-ish pokemon was floating precariously on a piece of driftwood._

_ "It seems as though the town of Fallen Leaf has been hit with an unexpected tsunami. Rumors have it that Team Aqua is behind all of this."_

_ Janny pushed her face into her brother's sleeve and cried softly into it. He allowed his hand to rest upon her head, rubbing her hair softly._

"And I wasn't even there to do anything about it," Janny said.

"Well," the boy said, "You can do something about it now. As a part of the Dark Hand, I am committed to the destruction of both Team Magma and Team Aqua."

"Ok," Janny said.

"Why don't you come with me?"

Janny nodded. She followed the boy.

At first, they took main routes, sidewalks next to buildings and lots of people all around. Then, the boy cut off the beaten path, and they were walking in the tall grass. A ways away, Janny could see a forest.

"I'm Janny, by the way," she said.

"Hmm?"

"What's your name?"

The boy stopped, turned around, and looked at her. His eyes glanced up and down, slowly taking in her presence, as if for the first time.

"They call me Xenon," he said, "Xenon. You can call me Xenon too."

"Ok," Janny said. She smiled. Things were a lot better now that she was no longer alone. Now, at least, she had Xenon with her. And, she supposed that he had pokemon as well. As if to answer that, Xenon took a pokeball out of his pocket. It was tiny and he tapped it to make it larger. Then, he pressed the button and it released a spearow in a ray of red light.

"Ok Spearow," Xenon said, holding his right hand out in front of him. The bird swooped down and landed on Xenon's hand. Xenon brought the bird in closer to him and whispered to it, "Check the surrounding areas; make sure it's all clear." The bird nodded, then launched off of its trainer's hand.

Xenon ducked into the grass and pulled Janny down with him.

"What's the matter?" she asked in a whisper.

"Shh," he said, "Just wait." He was staring up into the sky where his spearow circled them. It soared around the sky. Janny was jealous. She wished that she could fly. When she was younger, she and her brother had flown on their parents' charizard to visit their grandparents. Janny wished that she had a pokemon like charizard to ride.

The spearow hovered for a moment before diving down towards them. Xenon once again held his arm out and the pokemon landed on it.

The spearow nodded at its trainer and Xenon nodded back.

"It's safe," he said. Then he got up and motioned for Janny to follow.

They walked quite some time in the grass. Xenon was silent and Janny didn't have anything to say.

They came upon densely packed trees.

"Look," Xenon said, pointing to one of the trees.

"What?" Janny asked.

"Can you see the marking there?"

Janny shook her head.

"You have to look closely," he said.

She stared where he was pointing but still couldn't see anything.

Xenon walked over to the tree and traced something with his finger. Now Janny could see the faint outline of a hand.

"Now do you see?" he asked.

"It's a hand?" she asked, tentatively.

"Exactly," Xenon said, "Everything you see with that mark is our territory."

Janny nodded, though she couldn't imagine how she would recognize the mark if there wasn't someone to point it out to her. It had been burned into the tree, and unless you knew exactly what you were looking for, you wouldn't give it a second thought.

"Well," Xenon said, "I have to know. Are you certain that you want to join the Dark Hand?"

Janny didn't know. She didn't know anything about the Dark Hand. Up until today, she hadn't even known it had existed. But she did know that she didn't want to be alone. She knew that she couldn't go back to Magma. And she couldn't go home. She had to find her brother, and if the Dark Hand would keep her company until she did that, then, there wasn't much of a choice to make in her mind.

"Well?" Xenon asked, obviously impatient.

Janny nodded.

"Ok then, follow me."

They made their way through the trees. They reached a small clearing. In the center, there was a small house.

"Well, here we are," Xenon said. He went to the door and knocked three times, paused, then knocked twice more. A small window at the top of the door opened. Xenon placed his hand through it. Janny heard something from within the building. Xenon withdrew his hand and the door opened.

The room was much larger than it had appeared from outside. A large, dirty rug covered most of the floor. Chairs were scattered around and there was a small table in one corner. Blankets and other bedding were folded up and set off to the side as well. There was a single door that presumably led to another room, but the door was closed, and Janny got the distinct feeling that they wouldn't be allowed to go that way.

Two other teens were in the room already. They were sitting on chairs, looking at small, electronic devices. They hardly looked up when Janny and Xenon entered the room, though one of them must have opened the door for them a few moments prior.

Xenon pulled two chairs up to the small table and motioned for Janny to sit in one of them. Xenon took the other. Elbows on table, he leaned in so that was close to her. He spoke softly, though undoubtedly the others in the room could hear him.

"Now, Bartholomew runs this place," he said, "You'll have to meet with him, probably today, maybe tomorrow. You just need to tell him everything you told me and he'll let you in, I'm sure of it." Then, after a pause, "Do you have any pokemon with you?"

"No."

"Well, we'll get one for you. Don't worry about that right now. All you have to worry about right now is how much you hate--" Xenon stopped. They both looked up as the door to the other room opened. Whoever had entered the room had their back turned towards them. Plain clothing, clean-cut dark hair, and a blotch on the back of their neck. "That's the boss's little toy, Dyl-- more like Dildo," Xenon said, getting even closer, speaking in a whisper so that even Janny had a hard time understanding, "Says he's a genius. You'd best not get too close to him."

"Why?" Janny asked, also whispering. The words had hardly escaped her mouth when the person who had just entered turned around. Their eyes locked. "Dylan?" Janny jumped out of her chair and ran and hugged her brother. He went stiff all over and did not return her embrace.

"Janny, what are you doing here?" he asked, coldly. She let go of him. There was something different about him, different about his face. He looked tired. Janny could only remember one other time when he had been tired-- Dylan had gotten sick with mono when he was eleven, taken out of school for weeks. But even then, at least he had still managed to smile.

"I wanted to find you," she said.

Dylan shook his head, "You need to go home. Now. You can't follow me into this. You have to leave now."

"Hey, that's no way to talk to the new recruits!" Xenon said, standing up from the table.

"Damn it Xenon! She's my sister," Dylan said, "Have you ever had a sister?" Xenon backed down. Dylan had always been a leader among the local kids. He was smarter, stronger than the rest of them. He was born with the intellect. And when one graduates high school at eleven, that leaves one with a lot of time to train pokemon. The other kids had always respected him. But this was something different. Janny could see fear in Xenon's eyes.

The door opened again. An older man, must have been in his mid-twenties walked in. The teens who had been sitting around were now standing up, facing the person who had just walked in.

Xenon mouthed the word "Bartholomew" to Janny. So, this was their leader.

"New recruit?" Bartholomew asked.

"Xenon brought 'er," one of the other teens supplied.

Bartholomew nodded at Xenon. Xenon smiled.

"She's not joining," Dylan said, but his voice was much softer than Janny could ever remember it being.

"Oh, is that so?" Bartholomew asked, putting his hand on Dylan's shoulder. Dylan stiffened. "Well Dyl, I suppose we should talk about this in my office. I'm sure rejecting this recruit must have something to do with that strategy we've been discussing." Bartholomew walked back towards the door with Dylan. Dylan didn't make eye-contact with anyone. Bartholomew opened the door, allowed Dylan to go in first before turning back to the teens and saying, "Prepare for the initiation."


	3. Chapter 3

Jai needed to get out of here. That much she knew for certain. So long as she was in Hoenn, there would be familiar signs, things she recognized, people that could possibly recognize her, despite her attempt to fade into the scenery.

She had a pokemon, so, it was only a matter of time before she could get together enough money to buy a boat ticket away from this place. She wouldn't care where. She'd happily go somewhere she had never heard of before, somewhere obscure, somewhere she could begin anew. At least now she was away from the town. Jai preferred being alone on the many obscure routes she managed to find.

She stared at the pokeball she held in her hand. She had released the cubone a few more times since healing it at the pokemon center. It was a good pokemon, obedient, easy to train. But it was still fearful. There was only so far they could go on fear alone.

"Fear!" came the cry from above her. Jai shook her head. Hearing things again, no doubt. "Fearow!" Jai looked upwards. A fearow was circling above her. It spotted her and dove. "FEARRROWWW!"

"Quick, Cubone, go!" Jai shouted, releasing the pokemon into the grass. She didn't need to look at it to know that it would be afraid of the great bird ahead. The biggest thing they had fought up 'til this point was a rattata. Even then, it had taken some coaxing to get the cubone to attack. The fearow was coming closer.

_"Fearow, quick, grab that sandshrew. We can't have anything escaping this time," Xenon shouted._

_ Fearow screamed before diving down and grabbing the sandshrew. The rodent pokemon cried out, but Janny had long since learned not to feel pity for pokemon. They were, after all, just a piece of the larger puzzle. _

Jai imagined fearow coming down and carrying cubone off. It was certainly strong enough. There was nothing to stop this large pokemon from clobbering hers. It had death in its eyes. Jai quickly lunged in front of cubone, an action complicated by her crutches. She tripped over one of them and fell to the ground in front of cubone.

The Fearow was coming towards her, but she didn't care. Let it attack her. She had plenty of scars, no need to protect herself from a few more. She could feel the wind from the pokemon's dive. Then, a flash and the fearow was thrown back. Jai ducked as a bone came back her way and was caught by Cubone.

"Cubone!" the pokemon cried triumphantly.

Jai looked at the fearow. There was no way that blow from a bone could have thrown it back that far. But there the pokemon was, knocked out on the ground. She walked over to the fearow. Its beak was bleeding. It must have been hit hard right on the beak's tip. The Fearow must have been knocked out from shock from being hit at such a sensitive place, rather than any actual power. Jai quickly threw a pokeball at it. She wasn't the type to pass up an opportunity like this.

She heard clapping from behind her.

"Well played, well played."

An unfamiliar man was standing behind her.

"Um, thanks," Jai said.

"I was talking to the pokemon. That little cubone of yours packs quite the punch."

Jai looked at the cubone and it started to shake, shake just because she had looked at it.

"Now, I'm going to make you an offer you can't resist," he said, "You're obviously not the greatest trainer out there. No offense to you, but, I saw the way you acted out there."

Normally, Jai would have come to her own defense, but she didn't have anything to back her up right now.

"You obviously don't trust your pokemon, don't see its true abilities. Now, let me tell you about myself. I am a four-time league participant. I can spot a great pokemon when I see it. I have what it takes to make that cubone an expert fighter."

"Your point is?" Jai didn't like this guy already and she didn't have the energy to entertain his blabbering any longer. In her better days, she was sure that she could have beaten him. And even if she wasn't able to do it alone, she could have set the entire Dark Hand on him. He wouldn't have a chance against them.

"I'm proposing a trade," he said. He brought out a pokeball and released a meowth.

"Meow?" the pokemon purred.

"See this pokemon—it's a nice pokemon for a nice girl like yourself. Perfect for Pokemon Contests."

"I'm not a coordinator," Jai said, "I'm a trainer. And you'd be a fool to think I'd trade away my cubone for that meowth."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, I may not be the brightest out there. And you've already told me that I'm not the greatest trainer. But even I can recognize the signs of a poorly cared-for pokemon. I doubt that meowth has seen the light of day more than a few times. What did you do? Hatch it with a thousand other meowths then let it rot away in your PC?"

The meowth was in bad condition, but Jai knew that her cubone wasn't much better. She just had to trust that this guy didn't see that as well.

"I traded for this one a while back," the man said, returning meowth to its pokeball. "It in no way reflects me as a trainer. So, you want a battler? Hows about this one?" He threw another pokeball to the ground.

"Charmander?" the little orange lizard said.

Jai frowned, hiding her pleasure. She had always had a thing for fire types. Her parents had specialized in them. She bent down to examine it. First, she opened its mouth. It obediently allowed her to look inside. Its skin seemed like the correct shade of orange. Its paws were dirty, but didn't show any signs of being over-worked.

"I'm telling you," the guy said, "You're not going to find a finer charmander out there."

Then, Jai caught sight of the flame on its tail. It burned bright. Fire.

_The flames lapped at her feet. She smiled. The flamethrower in her hand spit even more fire onto the ground and then at the trees around her. There was nothing, absolutely nothing that could beat the feeling of fire. Fire destroyed things. Fire made things new. It didn't matter where she stood with the Dark Hand. In the fire, they were all equal. Fire was all around her. She inhaled more smoke than she had intended. The flames crept closer. And then it hit her-- there was no way out._

Jai jumped back despite herself.

"Keep your cruddy charmander," she said, returning her cubone to its ball. Then, she ran. Screw the crutches; she left them there. They were too much of a pain to carry around. And if anything, she realized now that they would make her more recognizable. All she really wanted to do right now was to disappear.

~*~

"It almost died," the nurse informed her, "In fact, if I really think about it, I should have your trainer's license revoked. Do you know how much blood your fearow lost? If you had half a heart, you wouldn't have waited so long to bring it over here."

Teach her to ask about the condition of her pokemon.

"Look lady," Jai said, "I found it that way. I found the fearow like that. What—do you really think that I could have caused that sort of damage? You saw my other pokemon. Timid little cubone—couldn't hurt a fly if it wanted to. So, are you really going to blame me for fearow's condition? I could have left it there to die."

"Don't raise your voice," the nurse said, flustered, "This is a pokemon hospital. I'm sorry if I was quick to jump to conclusions."

"Now, can I see it?"

The nurse led her through the halls of the pokemon center. Jai could smell death. It was the way of those inner-hallways. Everything was sprayed over with disinfectant so many times a day that you knew the scent had to be covering something. The further one went down one of these halls, the more it resembled a morgue rather than a place of healing.

The nurse opened a door. Jai saw pokemon. Pokemon who were only half alive. Most of them were closing their eyes. The nurse left. Jai walked around the room. A vulpix was hardly breathing. It looked so still, so peaceful. Another pokemon was attached to so many wires that she could hardly recognize what it was beneath-- a beedrill. And there, in the corner was the fearow. It opened its eyes instantly when she approached, as if it could sense her presence. The pokemon glared at her. She didn't know whether it could recognize her as the person who had brought it so much pain, or if it was simply the nature of fearows to always look angry. Either way, the nurse had been right—fearow wasn't in good condition. The pokemon was hooked up to an IV. It wouldn't be ready for battle for a long while.

"Monster…unprovoked aggression…nothing more we can do…" Jai heard from the room next door. She cringed before realizing that they weren't referencing herself. Curious, Jai pressed her head up against the wall so she could hear more clearly.

"Are you sure?" came another voice.

"If there was anything else, we would have done it. It's best to say goodbye now. This creature's caused enough damage."

Silence.

"Goodbye boy. Sorry I failed you."

Jai could hear footsteps, the door opening and closing, more footsteps. Then, they were gone.

Jai rushed out of the room and back into the hall. She peaked through a window into the room next door. It was full of cages, most of them empty. Undoubtedly, this was the place where they kept the pokemon who were to be put down.

She opened the door, ignoring the plaque that said "Staff Only".

When Jai got into the room, she realized that she had been wrong—the cages weren't empty. Most of the pokemon were to small to have been seen from the window. There were a number of mudkips and torchics. They must have belonged to young trainers who simply weren't cut out for the profession. Jai wondered what the people at pokemon labs were thinking, entrusting mere children with living beings. Granted, Jai herself wasn't the best trainer out there, but at least she did care for her pokemon once they were in her possession. Her mind flashed back to the fearow, nearly dead in the next room over. She could have gotten to the pokemon center sooner. She could have healed it with one of the potions she had with her. She hadn't. A low growl interrupted her thoughts. She turned to see an arcanine in one of the other cages. It towered over her, still growling.

"Why are you growling at me?" she asked, nonchalantly, "I'm not the one who's about to kill you."

The arcanine glanced at the door.

"Yah," Jai said, "Those people, they're gonna kill you. But you already knew that. So, what are you gonna do, just sit here, growling at me?"

Arcanine stopped growling. It took Jai in. She got the feeling that it was memorizing her features. A look of shock crossed its face and it backed up into the corner of its cage emitting growls alternating with whines.

"What, are you afraid of me?" Jai asked, suddenly annoyed. She was more annoyed at herself. What had brought her to this point—the point where she would taunt possibly rabid pokemon? Did she have a death wish or something?

The arcanine whined more. Pathetic.

"Now look here," Jai said, "There is nothing keeping you here." She grabbed the bars of the arcanine's cage, "These bars are like sticks in comparison to your power." She pulled at the bars. "You could destroy them and be free."

It stared at her, as if it didn't know what to think of this.

"Fine," Jai said, "Just stay here. Let them destroy you." She looked at all the other pokemon in the room. Mudkips, treekos, a mankey, two ratticates, a spearow. "Let them destroy you and all the other pokemon in this room."

Jai was about to leave, then she had another idea.

"Arcanine," she said. The pokemon's ears perked. "Use flamethrower on the bars of your cage." The pokemon held her gaze for a moment before obeying. The other pokemon in the room began to chatter as flames spewed from the cage, melting the bars. Arcanine jumped through the bars and landed outside of its cage, fire in its eyes.

There was fire everywhere now. Some of the other pokemon had been released from their cages by arcanine's flames and their chattering had increased. The sound of a fire alarm pierced Jai's ears. Between the sirens, she could hear voices.

Jai's heart rate increased as the flames grew taller. She collapsed. The last thing she was aware of was the figure of arcanine lunging towards her.


	4. Chapter 4

They hadn't wanted her at the hideout. They had sent Xenon to baby-sit her. Even though he had denied it repeatedly, she knew that it was true. They were getting ready to do something, and Janny had no idea what it was. Now the two of them were walking through the forest.

"Dylan wasn't happy to see me," Janny said, "Why wasn't he happy to see me?"

Xenon just looked at her.

"I missed him so much when he was gone. I don't think that he wants me here."

"Don't mind him," Xenon said.

"But he's my brother. I'm worried about him."

Xenon laughed. "He's the last one you need to worry about kid. He's," Xenon paused, looking for the right words, "on the boss's good side. You just look out for yourself and Dyl will be absolutely fine."

"Okay," Janny said, though she wasn't exactly convinced.

"Now, what kind of pokemon would you like?" Xenon asked.

"I used to have an Ekans," Janny said. Good old Slimy. She had left the pokemon with her grandparents when she ran away. She wondered if Slimy missed her. They used to play all sorts of games, and sometimes, they would even train. But Janny had never been all that into training. That was her brother's field.

"Well, I'll catch you the next ekans I see," Xenon said, "Though that may take a while since we really don't get too many of them out here in the forest."

"Okay," Janny said, "Any pokemon is fine really."

"Flexible. That's good. Now, it's about time we head back. They should be ready for you."

The two started back through the forest.

"Now, just keep a few things in mind," Xenon said, "You don't have to be scared of any of the people here. Just walk up to the table. You'll take an oath. After the fire is put out, you can exit the room and you'll be one of us. You'll always have us for protection." He looked at her. "You'll always have me."

"And Dylan," Janny added.

"Sure kid."

They were back at the little house in the clearing. Xenon knocked at the door, was identified and let in. By the time Janny entered the room, only she and Xenon were there.

"Now, go into that room," he said, pointing to the door she had seen her brother disappear behind earlier that day.

Janny walked up to the door. She knocked on it tentatively, but got no response.

"Just go in," Xenon said. Then, he left the building.

Jai pushed the door open. The room was dark. She had to wait a few moments for her eyes to adjust. The only light was coming from a candle on the table. Janny walked up to the table as Xenon had told her to.

She jumped a bit when she noticed that there was a person standing behind it. The person was wearing a black cloak and mask so that she couldn't see their face. She slowly looked around the room. There were two other people standing in the room, also dressed from head to toe in black, wearing the same cloak and mask as the person behind the table. They walked closer, and stood right by the first person, one on either side.

The candle flickered from where it stood. Next to it was a knife. And on the other side of the knife, there was a small bowl of water.

"January Scott," the voice said, "You will now repeat this oath. After saying it, you will be one of us. Do you understand?"

Janny swallowed. "I understand." Her pulse increased. There was something invigorating about the darkness.

"Then, repeat after me. As a member of the Dark Hand-"

"As a member of the Dark Hand-"

"I swear upon my life-"

"I swear upon my life-"

She repeated line after line about protecting pokemon and the land, and others about total allegiance to the Dark Hand. She echoed phrases about wiping out Aqua and Magma. By the end, she was repeating things that she didn't understand, perhaps a foreign tongue, a language of this brotherhood.

Finally, the oath finished, each of the masked characters took a turn cutting their index finger and allowing blood to drip into the bowl of water in front of them. Then, the knife was handed to her. Goosebumps crept across her skin as she sliced her finger. She hoped that they didn't see her flinch in the candlelight. She set the knife down.

The figure in the center then dipped his finger into the water, and stirred it twice before pinching the wick of the candle, extinguishing the flame.

The figure in the center held the candle out to her.

"You are now a member of the Dark Hand," he said, "Go in peace."

As she was leaving, she heard the voice of her brother, echoing, _"She's just a kid."_

Out in the main room, things were surprisingly cheery. Xenon was waiting for her.

"So, how'd it go?" he asked. He seemed quite pleased with himself.

Janny shrugged.

"Now, is that any way to act around the person who just found you an ekans?" he asked in mock offense.

"Really?" The little girl's face lit up. She had had enough disturbing experiences that day and a pokemon would really help, even if it wasn't Slimy.

"Yeah," Xenon said. He put his arm around her in a half-hug. "But here's the deal. I can't get it for you right now. Ramy's gonna trade it to me for a spearow. I'll catch that in the morning, no problem. Until then, you're just going to have to be patient."

"Oh." Janny couldn't hide her disappointment.

"One night isn't that long," Xenon said, "You'll have that ekans before you know it."

"Ok," Janny said, trying to act a little grateful. But, in that moment, she had been reminded of Slimy. Poor Slimy. He had hardly spent a day without her. He probably thought that she had abandoned her, and this bothered the girl so.

"Now," Xenon said, "You better get some sleep. You never know when duty will call." He smiled at her.

She smiled back, but something about his face bothered her. Perhaps it was his nostrils. He was a good foot taller than her, so, she always managed to look up them as they moved, not unlike a charizard about to blow flames. Or perhaps it was his eyes. They were dark and beady, bottomless pits to the little girl.

"Come on," he said, grabbing her hand, "I'll show you where you're going to sleep.

They went through the door to the same room Janny had just come out of. It was surprisingly light now, and not at all creepy as it had been before. In fact, the girl wondered if it was the same place at all. A couple of teenagers that she didn't recognize were sitting in a corner together, talking. The stopped to look at her when she entered. One of them smiled, the other scowled.

"-mind them. They're always around," Xenon said. Janny had tuned out his voice and still had a hard time listening to the boy.

"Where's my brother?" she asked when he finally stopped talking.

"Oh, you won't see much of him around here," Xenon said, "I don't think that any of us will be seeing him much for a long time." The other two teens laughed, though Janny couldn't say for certain whether it was at what Xenon had said, or if something funny had come up in their own conversation.

"But," Janny persisted, "I came here to find him. And now I have. I should at least be able to speak with him. We're in the same club now."

"Did anyone ever tell you that you talk a lot?" Something in his voice silenced her. Janny blushed. People had told her that she talked a lot, even too much. Mostly teachers who had had her brothers in years past and were used to his quiet and studious manner. Suddenly Janny had to fight back tears. She missed her grandparents. Grammy would have never told her that she talked too much. In fact, Grammy and Poppy liked to hear her stories.

They turned down a hall that was lit by small flames. When she got closer, she realized that they were not torches as she had expected, but charmanders and charmeleons. Janny smiled. They reminded of her parents' pokemon. Maybe one day she would have a charmander and raise it all the way up to the charizard stage. Then, she could fly all around the world with it. This comfort didn't last long. They soon entered a room. A teenage girl with long black hair was sitting, facing a back corner.

"What do you want?" she asked. She didn't even bother turn around while she was speaking to them.

"I brought you something," Xenon said.

"Xenon! I thought I told you to stay out of my room!" she shouted, hardly letting him finish his sentence.

"Hey, hey, no need to snap," Xenon said, "Especially not a new recruit." He laughed, but, Janny could tell that he was uncomfortable.

"Um, hi," Janny said.

"You bring me a child? I thought we were through with recruiting kids after what happened to Marcos!"

She still wasn't looking at them. This bothered Janny in some small way, but, on the other hand, she was glad that she didn't have to look into the girl's angry face.

"Chill out Rachel. The kid's cool. Dylan's little sister."

"And this is supposed to make me like her more how?" Rachel finally turned to look at them. But, her eyes stared strangely off into the space between Xenon and Janny.

"He doesn't want her here," Xenon said.

"Well, in that case," Rachel said, "Welcome to the family." She hardly seemed pleased.

"It's okay if she stays with you for now, right?" Xenon asked, as he was leaving. Janny got the distinct feeling that she wasn't supposed to follow.

"I hate kids," Rachel said, in a defeated voice, then more softly, "They stink the whole place up."

Janny stood there for a moment as Xenon's footsteps faded away. She shuffled her feet awkwardly, wondering what to do next.

"Let me tell you why you are here," Rachel said in a matter of fact tone of voice. "You are here because there's this little thing called hazing. You know what hazing is?" Janny did not know and did not answer. "Well, that's what being here in this room is all about. I may not be able to see you, but, I will make your life a living hell if you step out of line."

Janny couldn't help it. She let out a little whimper and tears ran down her face. Suddenly, an arm was around her. Janny initially shrunk back, but, soon realized that it was a non-threatening embrace.

"There, there," came the much softer voice of Rachel, "You want to know the real reason they put you in hear with me? Because they know I'm just a big, fat softy at heart. Just don't tell Bartholomew." Rachel patted her back. "Or your brother," she added.


End file.
